


Starring Roles in Their Own Tragedies

by Stargazer19



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Angst, Cracked Twoie, Hurt/Comfort, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, Misunderstandings, Psychological Trauma, Time Travel AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-08
Updated: 2020-02-14
Packaged: 2021-02-28 02:07:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,945
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22616131
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Stargazer19/pseuds/Stargazer19
Summary: Twoie has always been very cautious about the future. He’s scared of changing the past too much, so he does his best to only tell the Crystal Gems things he thinks they need to know. However, for all his safeguarding, he accidentally lets something slip. That was all they needed to validate their suspicions of him.
Relationships: Ruby/Sapphire (Steven Universe)
Comments: 106
Kudos: 451





	1. Tunnel Vision

**Author's Note:**

> Woo, this was hard to write. I'm not the best at fight scenes so I hope it's okay. I know the "Gems Fight Twoie" idea has been done a couple of times and I wanted to do a different take on the way I normally see it revealed. I want to give a shoutout to Onlynoll and Sutimetravelau on Tumblr for the idea! I hope you like it! 
> 
> I'm always up for constructive criticism so let me know if anything reads weird! I had the hardest time writing Pearl's dialogue. I also love hearing back from you in general if you want to comment here or on my [Tumblr](https://shadow-light19.tumblr.com/)
> 
> Also, the title is from the song "Listening to the Weather" by Bic Runga. I love this song!

Twoie knew it was going to be a bad day the moment he woke up. The young man had struggled to fall asleep, and it felt like he’d only slept a couple of hours. He sighed as he covered his face with his pillow. Ever since he ended up in his past, he’d gotten used to sleeping on the couch. Don’t even get him started on Rose’s room. Twoie had had enough bad experiences in there that he’d rather suffer from the occasional backache than make it his room. He only slept there when he was staying up much longer than Steven so he wouldn’t disturb him.

Speaking of Steven, Twoie could hear his younger self’s voice from close by. What time was it? He uncovered his head from the pillow and blearily looked towards the source of the noise. ‘Great… Looks like Pearl and Amethyst are fighting again…’ Steven had his hands up as he tried to calm their argument, but it was clear it wasn’t working.

“-ault. I keep telling you I’m not taking your stupid junk! Maybe you should pay more attention to the stuff you leave out around your waterfalls. It’s been your waterfalls for years now!” Pearl looked incensed as she hugged some object close to her. It looked like some kind of a pink and blue stick.

“Oh, I doubt that! You took my stuff for decades, and I am definitely not careless enough to leave this out.” Amethyst growled but stopped when Garnet put a hand on her shoulder. “Pearl, I know that means a lot to you, but you need to take their words into account. Both Steven and Amethyst are saying that items from your room fall into her room. I believe that this may be all one big misunderstanding.”

Pearl looked betrayed. “W-well, maybe some past events were accidents but not this! There’s no way I’d ever leave this out in my room. I keep it in my gem!” Amethyst scowled as she walked over to the fridge. “I don’t know what to tell you, P. It wasn’t me, and we all know you’re not gonna admit it was you.” Steven stared at him with hope in his eyes. ‘Augh, do I really have to be the one to fix this?’

He sighed as he slowly sat up on the couch. “What’s going on now?” Pearl still seemed salty even though she smiled at him in greeting. “Twoie! Good morning! Or should I say good almost afternoon now?” Was it really that late? “I’m sorry if we woke you. You remember how Amethyst used to take things from my rooms for her junk piles, right? I was only telling her that she needed to stop.” Amethyst rolled her eyes.

“Alright, Pearl. I’m sure it was an accident. I remember a couple of times where your items fell into Amethyst’s room via the waterfalls, and that’s probably what happened this time too. It’s not anyone’s fault, and I think we should just drop it.” Pearl sniffed and turned on her heel away from him. “Right. My precious gift from Rose Quartz just happened to fall into Amethyst’s room. You don’t need to pretend. I doubt _you_ would understand how much this means to me.”

Twoie saw red. How dare she? _How dare she?_ Steven looked shocked as Pearl headed towards the temple. “You’re right.” She turned around in surprise. “I don’t understand.” His fists clenched in rage. “I don’t understand because Pi- Rose was the worst!” The stick clattered to the ground. Every eye was on him.

“I don’t understand how you worship the very ground she walks on because she’s the reason I’ve had to fix so many horrible things!” The young man became enveloped in a pink glow. His breath came out in harsh, ragged gasps. Steven raised a hand out to Twoie, but Garnet shook her head at him. She gently pushed Steven towards the temple, making sure he was out of the way completely before addressing Twoie.   
“What do you mean by ‘Rose was the worst’?” Twoie raised his brow at Garnet until it dawned on him what he’d just said. The pink faded away. The young man ran a hand through his hair. “I mean… I can’t say everything because you haven’t learned about it yet, but let’s just say the war caused so many problems for everyone. I didn’t actually mean to bring it up at all. I’m sorry.”

Garnet hummed and stepped forward. “By everyone, you mean…?” Twoie shook his head. “Sorry, Garnet. That would be saying too much.” She nodded. “I understand, Twoie.” She summoned her gauntlets. Steven and Twoie were startled at the action. Amethyst and Pearl nodded before summoning their own weapons as well. “W-what’s going on?” Twoie backed up until the back of his knees hit the coffee table.

“We tried this the easy way, Twoie. Now we’ll do this the hard way. What do you mean by _everyone_?” Garnet growled. Steven tried to push past the gems to defend Twoie, but Amethyst quickly picked him up by the waist. “Woah, Ste-man. You need to stay back. We need to interrogate this _imposter_.” Pearl thrust her spear forward until it was almost touching his neck. He smacked it out of the way with his hand.

“What the hell is wrong with you guys? Why are you acting like this?” Pearl flashed him a smug smile. “We’ve been suspicious of you for a while, you Homeworld spy! But you just sold yourself out. The real Steven would _never_ hate his mother.”

Garnet stalked forward and grabbed him by the collar of his jacket. She slammed him into the floorboards. His gasp of pain was drowned out by the splintering of the wooden planks. “Twoie! Guys, stop!” Steven screamed as he struggled in Amethyst’s grasp.

“You can drop your disguise now, gem. You also gave yourself away when you turned pink. Human and human-gem hybrids can’t change colors like that. Only gems have color schemes like that.” The pink glow returned. “I’m not lying to you! I am Steven from the future!” He summoned his bubble and knocked Garnet off of him. He pushed himself to his feet, just in time to dodge a blow from Pearl's spear. Garnet threw a punch that he blocked with his bubbled fists.

Amethyst backed out of the room with Steven to make sure he didn’t get hurt in the crossfire. Pearl sent several lasers at Twoie, some burned through his jacket, leaving burn marks, but most he managed to reflect into the floor with his shield. “I’m so fucking sick of you not listening to me!” He kicked Pearl’s spear out of her hand. The gem gasped in pain at the contact with her wrist, and Garnet could feel a tide of fury wash over her. Nobody hurt her family and got away with it. She sent several gauntlet rockets at Twoie, who raised a bubble in his defense. Steven watched in horror as the smokescreen from the blasts provided the perfect cover for Garnet to slip in for a sucker punch. Twoie’s bubble went down just as Garnet breached the smoke. “STOP!!!”

_Crack!_

Twoie screamed in agonizing pain. Everyone froze in shock at the sound. Steven wriggled out of Amethyst’s limp hold and rushed over to Twoie. The young man dropped to his knees as his hands hovered over his cracked gem. Pearl let her spear fade away as she stared at him in shock. “W-why isn’t her form disappearing? You damaged her gem! She should be unstable now!” Garnet dissipated her visor. All three eyes scanned Twoie as Steven tried to calm him.

Twoie was shaking all over. He made a pained noise every time Steven tried to touch him. He coughed. Blood splattered on his and Steven’s hands. Amethyst took a shaky step forward. “Guys, I hate to tell you this, but gems don’t bleed…”

Twoie let out a low whine. Everyone flinched. “It hurts…” Steven watched in agony as tears welled up in Twoie’s eyes. He coughed again. Steven tried to lick his hand but was startled when Twoie staggered to his feet. Now that he was standing, Garnet could see the result of her attack. There was a large spider-web crack on the face of the quartz. The biggest crack split the gem right down the middle, with many smaller cracks branching off. “Please…” Steven could feel tears streaming down his cheeks.

“I’m trying, Twoie! You have to let me touch you! I can’t heal you otherwise!” Twoie shook his head. “Stars, it hurts! It hurts so much!” He scrambled backward, pained groans showing how much moving was hurting him. Steven tried to follow him but backed off when Twoie tried to summon a bubble. It popped almost immediately, sending him stumbling against the front door. “Twoie! You’ve gotta stop walking around!” Steven licked his hand and finally got close enough to slap it against Twoie’s arm. Another bubble stopped him.

“Let me heal you!” Twoie looked him in the eyes, and Steven finally realized why Twoie kept resisting him. His eyes were glazed over in fear and pain. It was like he couldn’t see him. Maybe Twoie didn’t see him. The young man had made no acknowledgment that he understood Steven was trying to help him. Garnet quickly launched forward just as Twoie summoned a shield. She managed to drag him out of the way as the shield went flying and slammed into the ground where Steven was standing seconds ago.

“He’s hallucinating from the crack in his gem. He doesn’t know what’s going on right now.” Steven smacked her hand off of himself. “I don’t care! You guys are the reason he’s like this in the first place! I’ve gotta help him!” Steven turned to Twoie only to see him gone. “What?” The front door swayed in the wind. Steven ran out onto the porch and looked wildly around. However, he couldn’t spot any sign of him on the beach. No footprints, no blood trail, nothing.

The Crystal Gems stepped out from behind him. Pearl scrunched the tail end of her ribbon in worry. “Where could he have gone? It’s not like he could use his powers right now! We have to find him so that we can fix him.” Steven could feel his rage boiling over. “Fix him? You want to fix him?” He rounded on them. “You’re the reason his gem needs to be fixed in the first place. Why didn’t you just tell him why you wanted to know more?” They flinched. He was right. “You never stopped to think for one second that you could’ve just explained why you were suspicious? You guys always jump to violence when you don’t understand things. You did that with Lapis, you did that with Peridot, and now you did it with Twoie!”

Steven pushed past them and started walking down the stairs. “I’m leaving to go look for Twoie. Why don’t you go find something else to attack now that he’s gone.” Amethyst raised her hand to place on Steven’s shoulder but flinched when he smacked it away. It was obvious that Steven wanted nothing to do with them right now. “Please tell Twoie we are sorry. For everything.” Steven made no acknowledgment of Garnet’s words. He continued facing away from them until he could hear them quietly retreat into the temple. Steven walked down the steps and scanned the beach again. It didn’t matter to him that they realized they were wrong.

That didn’t make up for the fact that his older brother was out there somewhere, cracked and in pain, and Steven didn’t have a clue where to start looking. He was about to walk down from the hill to search around the statue pieces when he noticed blood droplets on the stairs. ‘It looks like… it goes on behind me?’ He whipped around. Under the house were several bushes that were fairly large and overgrown. He peered through them to see Twoie, lying mostly hidden amidst the leaves. He wasn’t moving. Oh, stars no… “Twoie?” No response. “Twoie?!”

Steven quickly hopped over the bushes and knelt by Twoie’s side. He could feel tears prickling his eyes as he bent to press an ear to Twoie’s chest. There! A faint heartbeat. Steven let out a relieved sob as he sat up again. Oh, thank stars. He noticed Twoie’s body start to shimmer, and his gem lit up in a bright glow. Steven lifted Twoie’s shirt to see the multiple cracks healing. “Huh. I guess I do have healing tears.”

Although Twoie was now healed from his injuries. The young man did not wake up. Steven tried shaking him, but after a couple of seconds of no response, he figured it was useless. There was no way Twoie was waking up after the stress of what he went through. Steven looked out at the water from where he sat. Now that Twoie was healed, what should he do next? He had some thinking to do.


	2. Cerebral Kaijus

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Twoie can't take it anymore. Even though he knows they're not gonna hurt him, he doesn't feel safe in the house. He hasn't even seen the gems since they cracked him but every noise makes him think they're coming back to finish the job. He can't stay here. He has to go.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I honestly did not expect this story to explode as much as it did. I wrote it for fun, and I am so happy you all are enjoying it! The name for this chapter comes from the song “dirge” by Kill Bill and Rav. Also, I blame you Nothosaurus for giving me ideas. I won’t say more than that. You know what you did! XD
> 
> This story takes place sometime after Barn Mates, since I couldn’t think of a good reason to have them go to the barn if it was already inhabited by Peridot, but before Mr. Greg. I felt like Twoie would help Peridot set up the barn into her home during the whole Cluster Arc, which is why it already has electricity even though it took a while in the show. Since they’ve been designing the house for a while, it already looks like it did in the series. Lapis was quick to add her own design to the barn.
> 
> Lapis and Twoie became best buds almost instantly. Maybe it’s because she could feel a sort of kinship with him, but a quick explanation that Twoie was Steven from the future also cleared up any suspicion she had of him. Peridot was annoyed that they didn’t tell her at first but she became too enamored at the prospect of time travel to care further. That was a fun day.

When Twoie opened his eyes, he wasn’t sure what he was expecting. It definitely wasn’t a lack of pain and a view of the floorboards from under the house. The young man tried to sit up but was impeded by a weight on his stomach. Okay, new plan. He raised his head and saw Steven, asleep with his head lying on crossed arms. The rest of the kid was curled up against his side. He could feel a chilly coastal breeze blowing over him. Why was he in the bushes underneath his house? And why was it almost sunset? Twoie gently prodded the kid on the arm.

“Steven? Hey, Sunshine. Time to wake up.” The kid mumbled something and burrowed further against his side. He shivered as another breeze passed over them. Okay, that’s it. He picked his younger brother up with one hand so he could sit up. Once he was upright, he gently maneuvered the kid to his back. Steven hugged his neck in his sleep, allowing Twoie the freedom he needed to crawl out from under the house to the bottom of the stairs. He really didn’t want to go back into the house, but Steven was cold, and Twoie wasn’t going to let him stay that way.

He quietly climbed up the stairs and peeked into the house using the front window. It was empty. Twoie sighed in relief as he entered the house. He gently laid Steven in his bed and covered him with the blanket, before heading down to the kitchen to get a drink. He debated water or coffee but settled with coffee in the end. He needed the warm burn of the bitter drink to help him calm his nerves.

Even though the gems weren’t in the house, Twoie was as tense as a wound spring. Every noise made him jump. All he could think of was the immense pain that ran through his body when his gem was cracked. It was as bad as the time White pulled his gem out. He shuddered at the thought as he poured hot water into the instant coffee in his mug.

What could he do? ‘I don’t know if I can stay here right now… I don’t think I can bear the stress, even for Steven…’ He rubbed a hand against his face. ‘Okay, I’ll stay long enough to tell Steven where I’m going, but I am leaving. I just can’t stay here.’

Twoie held the warm mug in both hands. The burning feeling in his palms was comforting in the sense that it grounded him. He wasn’t fighting the gems or White. He was in the kitchen. He was… not safe, but safe for the moment. The young man could almost imagine the shadows of the house encroaching on him. Could imagine them taking the shape of Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl. Could hear them jeering and mocking that he would shatter at their hands. That they’d crack him again in a heartbeat. That they hated him. He downed half of the coffee.

When he set the mug down again, the Crystal Shadows were gone. The room was bathed in a soft glow of orange from the setting sun. Twoie grabbed his mug and headed upstairs. He quietly sat at the end of the bed, so as not to disturb the sleeping child. It wasn’t the best solution but Steven seemed to make the room feel less constricting. Now, there were a couple of options for him if he had to leave. He could either go to Dad’s van and stay with him for a while, he could stay with Peridot and Lapis at the barn, or he could sleep at any of the locations he could access via warp, like the Kindergarten.

‘I love Dad, but the van is going to feel as enclosed as I feel right now in the house, and I’d rather avoid sleeping outside. I guess I’ll ask Peri and Lapis if I could stay with them for a while. They probably won’t say no.’ He downed the rest of his coffee and placed it on Steven’s bedside table. Next, he gathered his things, his clothes and toiletries were shoved into the backpack Steven had gotten him, and he clipped the sleeping bag from Dad onto the handle and placed them by the door. He also packed several snacks and water bottles, making a note to get a water purifier from the store tomorrow. He’d probably need to get a mini-fridge too. Thankfully, they’d gotten electricity set up in the barn while they were working on stopping the Cluster.

He double-checked to make sure he had everything he needed before heading back up the steps to Steven’s bed. “Steven?” He gently shook him. The kid let out an annoyed whine. “Sunshine, I need you to get up now.” Another whine sounded but this time, Steven yawned and stretched. He blinked several times before it registered who had wakened him. “Twoie! Oh, thank stars you’re okay!” He braced himself as Steven lunged at him. He was proud to admit he only staggered slightly when his younger self hugged him. “Are you sure you’re fine? The gems hurt you really badly!” Tears started welling up in Steven’s eyes. Twoie shushed him softly and brushed a hand through his younger brother’s hair.

“I’m okay, Sunshine. Don’t worry, I’m fine. What the gems did wasn’t okay, and I’m sorry you had to see that. What happened anyway?” Steven buried his face against Twoie’s shoulder. “After Garnet c-cracked you, you started hallucinating. You kept creating bubbles to protect yourself whenever I tried to heal you and then you tried to hit us with a shield. I yelled at Garnet for cracking you and when I turned to look for you, you were gone. You must’ve tried going down to the beach and fallen from the stairs because you were in the bushes underneath the house, and you were unconscious and bleeding and-“ Steven broke out into loud sobs.

“I w-was so scared y-you were dead! You weren’t m-moving, and you wouldn’t a-answer when I called out for you! Y-you kept coughing up b-blood during the fight!” Twoie hugged him tightly and whispered calming words to him. “I’m okay now, Steven. You healed me. You’re the reason I’m okay right now.” He looked down at the first floor. He hadn’t noticed it when he walked in but now that Steven had mentioned it, he could see small brownish-black splatters on the wooden floors. Dried blood. He shuddered and looked away from the reminder of the gems assault.

“I learned this the hard way, but as half-gems, you and I can’t survive without our gem. I was dying Steven, but you saved my life. You’re my hero, Sunshine.” Steven only cried harder at the admission. They stayed like that for several more minutes, Twoie praising Steven for his efforts, for his kindness in waiting with him under the house, and for defending him, while Steven let his stress and despair out.

Eventually, Steven reached a point where he had cried for so long, he couldn’t cry anymore. He was exhausted as he limply rested against Twoie. His older brother was carding his fingers through his hair as he hummed some song only he knew. “Feel better?” Steven nodded. Twoie pulled away from the hug and placed both hands on his shoulders. “I have something important to tell you.” Twoie sighed. This was gonna be hard.

“I’m leaving Beach City.” Steven opened his mouth several times to speak but couldn’t say anything. “I can’t stay here because of the gems, and I don’t want to bother Dad by asking him to share the van. It’s too small for both of us. I’m going to ask Peridot and Lapis if I could stay with them until the hourglass is fixed.”

“I’m coming too!” Twoie startled at his words. “Wait-!” But Steven had already hopped off the bed and grabbed both his cheeseburger backpack and hot dog duffle. “Steven, hold on.” He got up to stop the kid but froze when Steven sent him a glare. “No! I’m coming with you. I don’t care if you feel like I should stay here. This isn’t my home right now. Home is where people care about you, and the gems have shown that they don’t care about me as much as I thought they did.”

Twoie knelt down in front of Steven and cupped his face with one hand. “When did the gems do that?” Steven wouldn’t meet his gaze. “They’ve done it a couple of times in the past, like when Pearl was mad at Lion, or Amethyst shapeshifted into mom, or when Sapphire and Ruby never apologized for ruining our family vacation. I was thinking about a lot, though, when I was waiting for you to wake up under the house.”

Twoie pulled Steven into a hug, hoping to comfort him as he continued. “I know I fell asleep after a while but we were down there for hours. I think I fell asleep sometime after 5. They never came outside to look for me or try to check on me while I was awake!” Steven clutched Twoie’s shirt tightly in his hands. “I know I wanted them to leave me alone in the beginning but for like 5 hours without knowing if I found you or had come back? That really hurt. And they hurt you too. They knew I think of you as my older brother and they still hurt you in front of me. I don’t want to be here without you.”

Twoie sighed as Steven finished his reasoning. He couldn’t argue with that. “Okay, Sunshine. I’ll grab you some things from downstairs while you finish packing, okay?” Steven pulled away from the hug and nodded. He went back to packing while Twoie gathered more food and drinks for Steven.

“Hey, Steven! I’m gonna call Dad, okay?” Steven looked at him, curiously. “With all of the stuff we have packed, it’ll be easier to get to the barn if he drives us. Plus… We won’t see him as often anymore now that we’ll be farther away.”

Steven nodded and went back to work. Greg picked up on the second ring. “Twoie! So nice to hear from you! How’ve you been?” Twoie explained everything to his dad while he finished up a couple of sandwiches and sealed them in cling wrap. By the time his makeshift meals and snacks for Steven were done, Greg had promised to be there in 15. Twoie was so grateful that Dad, even though he wasn’t _his_ son, was always willing to support him.

The older man had been furious with the gems when he told him the story but had immediately focused his attention to Twoie and Steven, though Twoie could still hear the underlying anger as he was fussed over. Steven brought his bags down and stood by the door. “Ready?” Twoie grabbed a sticky note and jotted something down on it. He slapped it on the fridge before walking over to Steven. “Ready.”

* * *

Greg had done his best not to bring up the fight during their trip to the barn. All of his worries were focused on his two sons and when he was sure that they were fine, at least physically, he spent the rest of the trip telling goofy stories about his touring days or incidents that had occurred at the Car Wash. Everyone was feeling cheerful when they pulled up to the barn.

As Greg helped Twoie grab the bags from the back of the van, Peridot and Lapis came running out of the barn towards Steven. “Steven! So good to see you!” Peridot laughed loudly as she hugged him. Lapis rolled her eyes fondly at them. “What’s the occasion, Steven?” She smiled in greeting at Twoie and Greg as they walked over with the bags. “You brought so much stuff, you look like you’re moving in with us!”

Steven awkwardly shuffled his feet. “Twoie as well. I mean, if you don’t mind?” Lapis and Peridot jumped in shock. Their eyes flicked back and forth from both Stevens before Lapis’ face shifted into a glare. “What. Happened.” Twoie sighed as he stepped forward.

“Long story short, the gems thought I was a Homeworld spy from the future so they fought me when I said something they thought Steven would never say. We fought, I was cracked, and I can’t stay there because I keep feeling like they’re going to finish the job. They’re not!” He added as Lapis had gathered water into wings. He knew she wouldn't hesitate to fight the gems if she thought they would hurt him. “They know what they did was wrong but I’m not comfortable staying there anymore. Steven came along because he’s not comfortable with them either.”

Lapis dissipated her wings. “As much as I want to go poof them right now, neither of you would want that, would you?” Her response was met nods. “Fine. But you owe me a Camp Pining Hearts marathon instead.” She walked over to Twoie and knelt down. “You’re sure you’re healed?” She lifted his shirt. Everyone gasped at what they saw.

Even though his gem was fully healed, multiple pale faded scar lines were branching in every direction across his stomach. Every scar originated from the edge of the gem and branched out about an inch. “I thought you said he was healed!” Peridot shrieked. Steven licked his hand and placed it on Twoie’s gem. It sparkled, showing that it had tried to heal, but the scars didn’t fade.

“That should’ve worked! Why didn’t it work?” Steven panicked as he tried to heal them two more times. Twoie could feel his heart racing. Why wasn’t this working? Did the gems really hurt him that badly? Did they really hate him _that much?_ His eyes widened as the scars seemed to grow in front of him. _Volleyball._ He looked from his stomach to the others, but luckily they hadn’t noticed as they were discussing why Steven’s spit wasn’t working. He quickly tugged his shirt down.

“Guys, it’s fine. Steven’s spit worked and healed my gem. This is probably just some side effect of being cracked since I’m part human, you know? Don’t worry about it.” The others thought about what he said and let out relieved sighs. Lapis patted him on the shoulder. “I’m glad you’re okay, Twoie.”

She turned to Steven and tugged him into the barn, talking about wanting to show him her newest meep morp. Peridot turned to Twoie and cleared her throat. “I know neither of us consumes organic matter like you two so we could get a cooling unit installed tomorrow.”

Greg chimed in, “I have a mini-fridge in the storage unit if you want it? I’ll bring it by tomorrow with some food that you can store in it.” His oldest son smiled. “Thanks, Dad. You’re the best!” He chuckled as he looked at his watch. “Oh, geez. I gotta go! I left the Car Wash unattended and I forgot that Mayor Dewey said he wanted his Deweymobile washed by tonight. I guess he has some important speech in the morning and he wants it sparkling clean.” Twoie laughed as he imagined Dewey speaking about a park bench or a new flower bed in town. He cupped his hands around his mouth. “Steven! Dad’s leaving!”

He laughed as Steven came running out of the barn. “Bye, Dad! Thanks for bringing us out here!” He hugged him tightly as Greg patted his head. “I’ll be back tomorrow around lunch. I’ll bring a Fish Stew Pizza too, so don’t eat until I get here! Night Schtu-ball. I love you.” Steven smiled and pulled out of the hug. “Love you too, Dad!” Greg turned to Twoie, who pulled him into a hug. “Thanks for everything, Dad.” His dad also patted him on the head. “I’m glad you’re alright. Love you, Schtu-Two!” Twoie chuckled as his dad broke the hug and waved farewell to Lapis and Peridot.

As he drove away, the Barn Buds ushered them into the barn so they could start setting up their things. They had a marathon to watch.


	3. You’ll Reach Up, and You’ll Rise Again

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Amethyst and Pearl go out to check on the brothers, only to find out they have decided to live in the barn. Now, the Gems must decide how they going to fix the worst mistake they have ever made and if they are willing to do what's best for Twoie and Steven. Even if that means keeping their distance.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahh, the Finale as finally come upon us. I think this is the longest chapter I’ve written for this story. The song for this chapter's title is "You Will Be Found" from the musical Dear Evan Hanson. 
> 
> This was a wild ride, and I am so thankful for Onlynoll for coming up with the ask idea and sutimetravelau for letting me use it. I still can’t believe how quickly you all responded to this story! I love reading the comments and seeing the kudos. I even laughed at comments on sutimetravelau’s [ Tumblr ](https://sutimetravelau.tumblr.com/) and at their tags. You guys are the best! I hope this ending is satisfying or, at least, satisfying enough.
> 
> Also, shout out to Zepheonix. I included something special for you in this chapter. XD

Amethyst scowled as she picked up a music box that was buried in one of her piles of junk. It looked fairly new, and the spinning figure inside was of a sleeping cat. She looked it over before placing it in a newly forming pile behind her. Pearl watched as the purple gem spotted something in another pile and rushed over to pick it up. “What are you doing again? I’ve been watching you move through your junk piles for hours.”

Amethyst dropped a radio into the pile. “I’m looking through all of my stuff for an apology gift. I told you already that I feel like shit for what we did.” Pearl glared at her. “Language, Amethyst.” The gem scoffed as she turned to another pile. The pale gem sighed, “I understand what you mean, though. We did make a pretty rash assumption.”

Pearl felt a tin can smack her in the head. “Rash assumption? We went overboard!” Amethyst snarled as she ran her hands through her hair. “I don’t know if it’s gotten through you’re pretty little head yet, but we attacked _Steven!_ Twoie is Steven from the future, right? So we went out there, with a half-baked theory, and cracked our family member for _no legitimate reason._ ”

She stomped past Pearl. The taller gem trailed along. “You’re right.” Amethyst paused and looked back. Pearl was standing with her hands crossed over her chest. “We did overreact to the situation and hurt Twoie because of it. And poor Steven, he had to watch us do that! I just don’t know what to do, Amethyst! If Twoie decides he wants nothing to do with us after this, we’d deserve it.” She started pacing back and forth, with her hands gripping the end of her ribbon.

“But can you imagine what that would do to Steven as well? He’s always been so emotionally hurt when we fought with each other, but now that it looks like it's Twoie or us? He might feel like we don’t care about him because Twoie _is_ him. I’m scared, Amethyst…”

Pearl covered her mouth with one hand. “I’m scared that they’ll hate us.” Amethyst put a hand on her arm. “That’s why we have to make things right, P. I’m gonna head to Garnet’s room. I wanna see if she checked on him already.” The other gem nodded, and Amethyst led the way to the puddle she knew would take them to the boiling room. “I’m sorry for yelling at you earlier.” Amethyst waited for her to continue. “I was walking around my room after this awful fiasco, and you were right. I found several waterfalls leading to your room that were pretty close to the places where I store my items. I’m sorry I assumed you took it, and I’m sorry that I didn’t believe you.”

Amethyst smirked and lightly punched her arm. “Finally, P! Took you long enough.” Pearl rolled her eyes fondly and followed Amethyst as she jumped into a puddle. They landed in Garnet’s room, off to the side of the lava pit. “Yo, Garnet! Did you check on Steven yet?” Garnet was sitting in the middle of the room, with her feet dipped in the lava. She turned her head as she nodded.

“He was under the house with Twoie for awhile. I predict that Twoie’s making them dinner right now. Once they’re done, we can go out and apologize to Twoie for fighting him.” Pearl raised a brow and pursed her lip. “You actually went outside and checked on him, right?”

Garnet adjusted her shades. “Steven doesn’t want to see us right now, so I checked on him with my future vision.” “Seriously, Garnet?” Amethyst huffed as she turned to head towards the exit. “I swear you rely too much on your future vision.” Pearl hummed in agreement and followed the other gem out of the temple. They were greeted with a dark, quiet living room. Amethyst figured Steven and Twoie were probably still outside, so she didn’t look around the room as she strode out the front door. She hopped down to the bottom of the stairs.

“Yo, Steven? Twoie? We’re really sorry about everything. I just wanna check on you guys to make sure you’re okay!” She called out as she shoved branches out of the way. She didn’t see them under the house, though. There was an indent in the bushes, looked like someone was there for a while, but she didn’t see any other sign of the brothers.

Where could they be? The purple gem started her picking her way out of the brushes. “AMETHYST!” The shout made her jump, but she recovered quickly, running up the stairs as fast as she could. “What?! Pearl, what is it?” She burst through the front door. Pearl was covering her mouth with both of her hands. The gem was sobbing loudly as she stared at a little yellow sticky note on the fridge. Amethyst grabbed the note.

_I’m sorry. I can’t stay here anymore, and Steven has decided that he doesn’t want to stay here without me. We are going to be staying at the barn until the hourglass is fixed. I’ll do my best to stay out of your way. I’m sorry I caused you all so much trouble._

_Twoie_

She clenched the note in her fist. “GARNET!”

* * *

“I told you to check on him!” Amethyst growled as she paced the living room floor. Sapphire was crying in Ruby’s hold. “I thought it’d be best if we left him alone to cool off! You saw how upset he was!” Ruby defended their decision. “We thought it would be best to use future vision, so we didn’t make him angrier.” Pearl was still sobbing with one of Steven’s shirts clutched tightly to her chest. Sapphire shook her head. “I thought it would be best. I saw that Steven would be upset if we followed him and that he didn’t want us bothering him, so I figured I’d wait until I was sure he was calm. It’s my fault.”

Ruby shushed her and held her hands. “I’m the one who told you to wait. I know whenever I get upset, I like being by myself for a while. I figured Steven would appreciate it as well.” Amethyst slammed a fist down on the coffee table. “I don’t care who’s fault it was! This just proves that you rely too much on your future vision. Now, Twoie _and_ Steven are gone, and we still have to find a way to fix everything!”

She banged her head against the table. Pearl sniffled as she stood up. She set the shirt down on the couch and sent Sapphire and Ruby a determined look. “I don’t know about you guys, but I’m not waiting a minute longer. I’m fixing this now. Amethyst!” The purple gem looked up from the table. “Take me to the pile of items in your room. Let’s grab our peace offerings.” Ruby and Sapphire shared a look and tagged along as the temple door opened up to Amethyst’s room. The Crystal Gems made their way back to the pile of items that Amethyst had already pulled out of her piles.

Pearl looked through her pile for an item she remembered spotting a while ago. There! She pulled out a small worn blanket. It had a little pink lion embroidered into the right corner of the soft baby blue fabric. Now she knew why Rose had asked for the addition when she bought it. She remembered how much Steven cherished the blanket when he was little. It was his greatest comfort when it stormed before he outgrew his fear of thunder.

She also pulled out the music box from earlier. She hadn’t recognized the song at first when Amethyst had turned the dial, but she now she recalled it as the melody of the special lullaby Greg used to sing to Steven at night. On several occasions, Greg had worked late into the night with the gems on building the beach house. Those nights, the older man would sing the lullaby while playing the guitar until Steven fell asleep. Once he was sure his son was sleeping, he’d rejoin the gems.

Amethyst grabbed the radio she had found earlier. It was fairly new, with a place to play CDs, and could also act as a speaker. Twoie liked to play music out loud while he was cleaning in the house or making dinner. Steven would sometimes join him, and they’d have a sort of karaoke party while they worked. Their last radio/speaker broke when Peridot was still living in the house. The brothers had kept forgetting to pick up a new one when they were in town. She hoped they would like it.

Ruby and Sapphire worked together to find something for the brothers. They combed through the pile and dug out a complete set of Cookie Cat comic books. They were published when Steven had been a baby, and she remembered how sad Steven was when he found out about the comics a couple of years after the series had been completed. He had a hard time finding scans of it online. They smiled and re-fused, happy with the gift they’d picked.

Each gem made sure the gift they picked was something that Steven and Twoie could enjoy together. They wanted to make sure each gift showed that they cared. Now, it was time for the hardest part. They had to prove to Twoie and Steven that they were truly sorry and had learned from their mistake.

* * *

It was late as the gems trekked to the barn. “Do you think they’re asleep?” Pearl asked the others as they got close. They knew Lapis and Peridot were probably awake, but they didn’t want to wake the brothers just to apologize. “I don’t think so. My future vision shows them marathoning Camp Pining Hearts with Lapis and Peridot, but if they are asleep, we’ll wait till morning.” The other two nodded in agreement, and the group made their way to the barn entrance.

The gems could see the bright flashing of the TV reflecting on the outside of the barn. Lapis, Peridot, and the brothers were sitting in the back of the truck. It must’ve been something pretty sad because Lapis was hugging a crying Peridot to her chest while trying not to cry herself. Twoie looked amused as a teary Steven hugged the older boy’s arm.

“I thought you hated Percy and Paulette as a couple, Peridot?” Twoie chuckled as Peridot whipped around to face him. “Excuse me?! Although I still believe Pierre and Percy are the superior couple, look how sweet it is that he dove into the lake to get Paulette’s friendship bracelet? It’s such a beautiful expression of his misguided sentiment for Paulette. Pierre even praises him for his actions!”

The rest of the group chuckled at her explanation. Lapis moved to hit the play button again when the Crystal Gems walked into her line of sight. Her happy mood immediately shifted into rage as she stood and wrapped the whole truck in a shield of water from their smaller than average lake.

“What. Are you doing here?” Her voice was icy. Peridot scrambled to her feet and stood in front of Twoie, with Steven doing the same. Garnet stepped forward to speak for the group. “We want to apologize. We realized how wrong we were, and if Twoie and Steven are willing to give us the opportunity, we would like to have a discussion with them about our grievous mistake.” She noticed the young man flinch when she started speaking, as well as the look of fear in his eyes. “If neither of you two are comfortable, we will leave and wait another day. We do not want to make things worse than we already have.” Pearl and Amethyst nodded in agreement. The purple quartz added, “Yeah, dude. If you’d rather we turn around and leave right now, say the word, and we will. I just didn’t want you to go through the night thinking we didn’t care enough to want to make things better.”

Twoie watched them, as though trying to find any indication that they were lying. After Amethyst spoke, though, he gently placed a hand on both of his defenders’ shoulders and stood up. “I’m willing to hear you out. Do you want to talk inside the barn?” Steven grabbed Twoie’s hand. “I’m not leaving you alone with them. If you want to talk to them, then I’m coming with you.” Lapis and Peridot exchanged a look before Lapis retracted her water back into its hole. “We’ll be right out here if they start anything,” Peridot assured them as they floated down to meet the gems. The group walked into the barn, with Twoie flicking the light switch as they walked inside.

Steven folded his arms in front of him and watched the gems’ every move with a withering glare. Twoie was awkwardly rubbing his arm as he waited for the gems to start talking. Amethyst stepped forward first. She held out the radio to Twoie and Steven. “I’m sorry, man. I didn’t judge you for a long time until we had that kidnapping incident with Peridot. I was surprised when you allowed Steven to get kidnapped, and when you didn’t prevent Peridot from contacting Yellow Diamond when she stole the communicator from the moon base. I should’ve asked you about _why_ you did that though instead of thinking the worst of you.”

She gestured to the radio as Twoie took it from her. “I got you this as an apology gift. I know the old one broke and you and Steven really like being able to play music in the house. I figured regardless of whether you forgive me for my part in this whole mess, it’d make you happy to be able to listen to music while you’re here. It’s kinda for both of you because I want to apologize to you too, Steven.” The youngest’s glare lessened in force. “For what?”

“For fighting Twoie in front of you. Like, we all knew how much you care about him, and we still hurt him badly with you around. That had to suck majorly.” His glare hardened again. “What about for not checking on me? Do you know how long I sat there under the house waiting for Twoie to wake up? It was horrible!”

Amethyst winced. “You’re right, man. I asked Garnet to check on you, maybe a couple of hours after you had left, and I thought she had done so in person. But she used her future vision, and I didn’t know until after you had already left. I should’ve checked on you myself instead of putting the responsibility on her. I’m sorry for that as well.”

Steven sighed as he looked at her sadly. “Well, at least you cared enough to think about me. That’s better than what I thought had happened.” “Dude… I’m sorry for making you think that. I love you, Ste-man. Maybe I don’t show it well enough, but I really do care about you. About you both.” Steven looked away as he contemplated her words.

Twoie was staring at the radio in his hands. He looked conflicted as he set it down behind him and turned to face the group again. When he still didn’t say anything, Amethyst tried to hide the sad look in her eyes and backed away so one of the others could talk.

Pearl stepped forward next, clutching the folded blue blanket and the music box. “Do you two remember, back when we were building the beach house, that time when the heater in the van went out? Greg was trying to fix it before it got dark, but it was already cold out since it had just turned Spring. I wrapped you in your favorite blanket and we just chatted until you were tired.” She held it out to them. Steven took the blanket in confusion and gasped when he recognized Lion on the corner, he showed it to Twoie with stars in his eyes. Pearl held out the music box to the oldest brother.

“Greg managed to get the heater back on, and you were already falling asleep in my arms. He pulled out his guitar, and he sang you your special lullaby. This music box plays the same melody as your special lullaby when you turn the mechanism.” Twoie took the box almost reverently as he remembered her story. Steven stared at it with wide eyes as his older brother turned the crank and a familiar melody played from the box. “Whether you forgive me or not, I want you to know that I care. Twoie, I never once attacked you thinking you were actually Steven. I thought you were a Homeworld spy using his features to trick us into trusting you. I never would have attacked you had I actually known.”

Pearl willed herself not to start sobbing. She didn’t want to guilt Twoie into forgiving her. “I’m so sorry for everything. I’m sorry for not trusting you. I’m sorry for attacking you, and I’m sorry to you too, Steven, for attacking him in front of you and not checking on you after. You needed us, and we weren’t there for you.” She took a deep breath as she tightly clutched the end of her ribbon in both hands.

“If you two decide you want to stay here, then I will support your decision. It’s the least I can do after everything I’ve put you through. I just want you both to be happy. I definitely haven’t told you enough but I love you so much, Steven. And I hope I get the chance to know you better, Twoie. You’re both my family.” Steven felt the sincerity in her voice and was struggling to keep back his tears. He felt Twoie pull him close and comb his hand through his hair. When he looked up at his brother, he could see him struggling as well.

Pearl delicately stepped back so Garnet could come forward. Twoie flinched at her movement, holding his breath as he waited to see what she would do. “I don’t expect either of you to forgive me for what I’ve done. While the others contributed to the attack against you, I was the one who dealt the blow that cracked you.” She paused as Twoie gripped his shirt where his gem was. Steven hugged his arm to comfort him.

“If you never forgive me for this transgression. I will understand completely. I am sorry for hurting you. I never should’ve been so aggressive, and I’ve caused you trauma that you never should’ve dealt with. I once told you that I see so many things that could hurt you. I told that I never should’ve let one of them be me. And yet, I have hurt you once again because of my actions.” She dematerialized her glasses out of respect.

“Steven, Twoie, I apologize to both of you. I have been told that I rely too much on my future vision. I should’ve checked on you properly instead of relying on my vision to see that you were safe under the house and had found Twoie. My vision allows me to see many different possible futures, and I shouldn’t have relied on the most probable future to understand the present. I made it seem as though I did not care enough about you two to check on you when, in reality, I was trying not to upset you further.”

She held out the comic books to them. “I know you never got the chance to read the whole series, Steven. Twoie, I don’t know if you were able to in the future, but I know you still have a love for Cookie Cat.” Twoie reached out and took the books from her. “If you decide to continue living here, I hope these can provide some happiness to you both. I love you, Steven. I want you to feel comfortable, and if you are more comfortable here than at home, I understand. Twoie, I should’ve been reasonable and talked with you about my concerns. You’re also family and I’m sorry that I’ve made you feel like you weren’t.”

The fusion stepped back to be with the rest of the Crystal Gems. “None of us want you to feel like you have to accept our apology. We have said what we wanted you two to hear. If you have any need of us, we’ll be at the temple. Have a good night, Twoie, Steven.” Garnet manifested her glasses and led the group out of the barn.

“Hey.” The gems turned around. Twoie had walked up to the entrance of the barn, Steven loyally beside him, with his arms crossed. The young man breathed in deeply, before holding his arms out. “I forgive you.” Their eyes widened. “Really?” Amethyst breathed out in surprise. He nodded, which was all she needed to throw herself at him. They hugged each other tightly. Pearl rushed over, no longer able to keep her sobs in, and picked the two up in a bear hug. “Thank you, Twoie!”

Garnet wrapped her arms around the group and lifted them up as well in a tight hug. “We’ll still do our best to make you feel comfortable around us. I know this isn’t enough to fix the damage we’ve done, but I’m glad that you’re willing to let us work towards making things right.” Steven watched them with a smile. He was happy the gems really did care. He was also glad they took his feelings into consideration. Garnet noticed him watching and quickly scooped him into the hug as well.

“Guys!” he laughed as Amethyst, Pearl, and Twoie also did their best to wrap their arms around him. They stayed that way for a couple of minutes, just soaking in the love and affection from each other. When they finally broke the hug, Lapis and Peridot joined them. “You know, it’s pretty late. You can stay the night if you want? We’re gonna finish the 2nd season of Camp Pining Hearts before Twoie and Steven go to bed. You can all go back to the beach house tomorrow.” Lapis smirked as they smiled at her offer.

“Sounds lovely,” Pearl remarked. Twoie gestured to Steven for them go back inside the barn. While the brothers went inside, the gems went to help Lapis and Peridot make extra space for them at the truck. Twoie and Steven set all of the gifts together by the door, so they wouldn’t forget them when they left the next day.

“I’m kinda surprised you forgave them so quickly.” Twoie sighed as he turned to Steven. “I’m still kind of terrified of them, but they put so much thought into these gifts, and what they said, I know that we can be okay again.” He ruffled Steven’s hair as he climbed up the ladder to the Barn’s loft. He pulled his pajamas out from his bag, sat on the couch, and started changing.

Steven’s eyes widened from the ladder as he got a glimpse of Twoie’s stomach. It seemed like the weird scars lines had healed a bit. There weren’t nearly as many marks, and they seemed fainter than they were earlier that day. He’d have to ask the gems about that later. Steven quickly changed into his PJs as well. Twoie was waiting for him at the bottom of the ladder. “Steven?” The younger paused at the top of the ladder. “Thank you for everything. You’re the best little brother in the galaxy.” Steven chuckled as he climbed down. Before they made their way back to the others, Steven motioned for Twoie to kneel in front of him. The youngest booped him on the nose once he was close enough. “And you’re the best big brother in the galaxy.”

They laughed as they made their way back outside. Maybe he wouldn’t be completely fine tonight or tomorrow. Maybe he’d still flinch when the gems touched him a week from now. But he had a family that would help him get through this. And that meant more to him than anything.


End file.
